By Robert Booth
Publication Date: 2026-05-13 10:48:00
Data centers consume 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the increasing strain on energy supplies from AI leading to public opposition, according to a study.
The share of electricity used by vast warehouses full of microchips to power AI and the internet has risen 15% globally in the past two years as annual global investment in data centers approaches $1tn (£740bn) – almost 1% of the global economy, according to the International Data Center Association (IDCA).
The figures come against a backdrop of energy shortages in the UK and data center developers reporting multi-year waits for national grid connections. The IDCA said rising global electricity consumption was fueling “social and political concerns” and called on tech companies to be more transparent about their plans for new data centers to address “community frustration.”
The Guardian reported this week that developers working for Google significantly misstated how much CO2 two planned AI data centers would produce…
